Diggin4copper wrote:So if I had 100 million dollars, could I start my own tether-like coin and sit back and collect the Vig?How come ultra rich people are not doing this?

Not only could you collect the vig, you could issue $1 billion worth of your tether-like coin with only $100 million to back it. Then you could use the entire amount of Bitcoin deposited by customers any way you choose, such as raking off profits, buying other crypto, shorting, cashing out. Get some shady auditing service to create a report making you look in good shape. You're only in trouble if people try to use more of their tether-ish coin than you actually have money for. That is the danger Tether faces, and is betting won't happen. But the more empty Tether they add, the higher the danger.

Diggin4copper wrote:So if I had 100 million dollars, could I start my own tether-like coin and sit back and collect the Vig?How come ultra rich people are not doing this?

Not only could you collect the vig, you could issue $1 billion worth of your tether-like coin with only $100 million to back it. Then you could use the entire amount of Bitcoin deposited by customers any way you choose, such as raking off profits, buying other crypto, shorting, cashing out. Get some shady auditing service to create a report making you look in good shape. You're only in trouble if people try to use more of their tether-ish coin than you actually have money for. That is the danger Tether faces, and is betting won't happen. But the more empty Tether they add, the higher the danger.

Exactly right. The collapse of tether will be the best buying day opportunity in crypto. Something to keep in the back of our minds with very low buy orders. Whether that happens next month, or in 5 years... be ready.

Just in January, Tether has created $850 million worth of USDT to spread around the exchanges. Have they given up all pretense of having $1 USD to back every $1 of USDT? And they terminated their relationship with their auditor. Danger! Danger! As Travis has noted (and Crypto Investor here) when this blows it will have a severe effect on the whole market, though we'd be healthier without it.

U.S. regulators are scrutinizing one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges as questions mount over a digital token linked to its backers.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sent subpoenas last week to virtual-currency venue Bitfinex and Tether, a company that issues a widely traded coin and claims it’s pegged to the dollar, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The firms share the same chief executive officer.

Tether’s coins have become a popular substitute for dollars on cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide, with about $2.3 billion of the tokens outstanding as of Tuesday. While Tether has said all of its coins are backed by U.S. dollars held in reserve, the company has yet to provide conclusive evidence of its holdings to the public or have its accounts audited. Skeptics have questioned whether the money is really there.

“We routinely receive legal process from law enforcement agents and regulators conducting investigations,” Bitfinex and Tether said Tuesday in an emailed statement. “It is our policy not to comment on any such requests.”

If the tether issue blows up I think it'd be extremely bullish. In order to 'cash out' of tether you have to buy bitcoins/alts. Also, what can US regulators do to a non-US company with no US customers?

This has a sort of 'orchestration' feel to it....and seems to be very in sync with cash settled options going live. For example, Bitfinex was subpoenaed on Dec. 3. Why 'break' the news almost 2 months later??? hmm...

"The early bird gets the worm. But it's the 2nd mouse who gets the cheese"

Just wondering though, what do you think tether is gonna be for the next 2 years or so? Is it a good one? read some info about it here SHILL LINK REMOVEDplease give me a heads up. Thanks y'all

Tether is not a cryptocurrency that increases (or decreases) in value. So it's not a "good one" in that sense. It's anchored to the U.S. dollar and never varies more than a couple cents one way or the other. Tether's utility is as a means to take some or all of your crypto assets off the table, so to speak, to protect it from a market decline. Of course that means it's off the table for a market increase, too. Basically, it's converting your Bitcoin and alt-coin to a crypto representation of the USD. If the market drops, you can use the Tether to buy back cryptos at a lower price. If the market rises, well, being in Tether was not the best move.

The controversy is there's supposed to be $1 USD in the bank for every $1 USDT (T for Tether) that exists. But Tether keeps issuing many more millions of tokens as if it were Monopoly money, and many people doubt they have the dollars to back them up. We skeptics believe Tether is gambling that the time will never come when too many Tether owners try to convert back to Bitcoin etc. at the same time, which would bankrupt the Tether system. Basically the same gamble Bernie Madoff took, and look what happened to his investors. It hasn't happened yet with Tether, but I wouldn't want to be holding USDT when the music stops.

But all this discussion is in this thread. I recommend reading it from the beginning.

BarsandStars wrote:Not to be rude but I noticed all you do is post links to that same website. Am i the only one that feels like we're being trolled by this guy?

Yeah, I realized that after I went to the trouble of explaining Tether. I checked his other posts, and felt pretty stupid for not noticing his username contains the name of the site he's trying to send people to. He's only here (and probably other places) to shill that site.